My Holy Spirit Inbox

My Holy Spirit Inbox

Often, whether through a picture or a whisper from the Holy Spirit, names and images  pop into my mind’s eye. I call this my "Inbox." Years ago I recognized that this is a way in which the Holy Spirit speaks. Throughout the years I have prayed for many people whom I have never met as the Lord dropped them into my inbox. I can still see some of them. Usually they are only with me for a few hours or days, though some I have remembered in prayer for years. A couple times I have heard an address without a city (2118 2^nd St), a phrase (Kettle Kids for Andrew’s Journey), or a phone number without an area code. One was Dan 609-6009 way back in the early 2000s. I tried to call this number using close-by area codes, but to no avail. I finally decided that if God had wanted me to call Dan, then He would have given more information. I still remember Dan and wonder if I’ll meet him on the other side. 

One woman comes to mind. She is wearing a brilliant cobalt blue wrap, woven with gold designs. I see her hiding from her pursuers in the night. She is peering from behind a rock wall as she awaits a moment where she can flee. I have carried this woman in prayer for years. 

Then there is Linda. I saw a young blonde Linda, probably approaching 30, stuck in her little red car after she’d had an accident. Her legs were all curled up; she had passed out behind the steering wheel.  

Sometimes people from my past all the sudden come to mind. Not just by way of a thought, rather an invasion into my thinking. Kind of like when a commercial jolts a movie as it stops in an unlikely place. It is totally out of the blue and undeniable. Most of the time it is someone I haven’t thought about for decades. Yet there they are invading my thoughts.  

The last one hit me just the other day as I was planting trees in my yard. Her name is Chahani Rose or Shahani Rose. At first I just thought, “oh that’s a pretty name.” But then after a few moments it dawned on me that it was the Holy Spirit leading me to pray for her. Never had I heard that name before.  

Sometimes I know exactly how to pray for the people the Holy Spirit brings to me, while other times I don’t. In such cases I just pray according to what I see best I can. If He wakes me up in the middle of the night to pray, I store it in my phone so I can remember the next day. The Lord awakened me with the lady in the cobalt blue dress with urgency to pray for her. 

I encourage you to pay attention to thoughts that seem out-of-nowhere. If you are a Christian who has learned to yield your thoughts to the Holy Spirit, then these are likely the Holy Spirit leading you to pray.